I just posted over at the new TechRanchAustin blog news an annoucement about taking the startup incubation efforts that I have been doing over the last three years to a whole new level.  Come check out what we are up to, and join us in our efforts to take the technology startup ecosystem here in [...]

Several of my fellow friends that are entrepreneurs were just discussing how we should get together for a happy hour- to share some war stories, reconnect with each other, and informally discuss what we can do to move our businesses forward, even in these troubled times.  Given the number of others that have mentioned interest [...]

Today I was at The Rackspace Cloud Event- Where Rackspace announced several new products, as well as the acquisition of JungleDisk and SliceHost.  Between seeing many good friends that are entrepreneurs at the event, and what I believe to be some smart strategic acquisitions on the part of Rackspace- I felt like I must be [...]

I am honored to be presenting at this year’s Nano Technology Summit in Dallas, Texas- called NanoTX with a number of Nobel Laureates and other technology experts. Following is info on the speech that I will be giving.  Please make sure to call me or twitter me if you happen to be at the event. [...]

You’ve heard me chime in before about unemployment levels across Texas.  I believe that the financial crisis that we are seeing is adding to this more than ever before.  It is in this time of chaos that we, as entrepreneurs can create the biggest impact (and many times have some of the most interesting opportunities.)  [...]

Not sleeping well?  Me neither. As it ends up, there might be a technology reason for this… and after doing a bunch of research looking into the root causes of my condition, I believe that I have have found something- so much so that I was quoted on CNNMoney.com website about it.  Research that has [...]

Sorry for the last minute notice- but I wanted to let you know if you are interested in seeing me present this Monday about the Four Conceptual Shifts from my book The Rise of the Enterprise Tribe, please read the following. I will be presenting the Four Conceptual Shifts Monday September 8, 2008 at 6 [...]

For SXSW Interactive 2009, Matt Genovese of Door64, Sarah Cooke of Net Impact Austin, myself, and one other yet to be announced Austin community builder will be speaking at SXSW Interactive 2009. We need your vote to have these talks added to SXSW Interactive’s 2009 Lineup. Can you spare a moment to vote for these [...]

Lawrence Lessig has produced an informative, short video in which he compares McCain’s and Obama’s technology policy. In the spirit of full disclosure- historically I have not made any political statements on this blog, but this year for the first time I have actively gotten into supporting the Obama Campaign, including being a State of [...]

As you might know- I spent a good portion of 2003 in Chile, collaborating and learning with some of the best design experts in the world. When I speak of “design” I specifically am meaning “ontological design“- in a few words, that is to say what are the fundamental building blocks, or perhaps even dispositions [...]

Much has been said about Web2.0 about being a “conversation” between parties on the Internet- shifting from the “broadcast” model of radio and TV where listeners were passive receivers of information to listeners being actively engaged in conversation.  Web 2.0 conversations are happening many places, have been enabled by many service providers, including Austin’s own [...]

I am back from a three week blogging hiatus- during which I traveled to five different cities across Mexico and the US.  Part of this time was for catching up with friends and family, part of this time was for professional opportunity in connecting other groups into the tribe, and part of this time was [...]

As I have been writing a section of my book over the last few days, I thought that the following insight was too valuable to hold for the book… and wanted to share it here with an immediate wider audience. The Four Conceptual Shifts that social networks are bringing are going to have profound effects [...]

Here’s evidence of Conceptual Shift #2- Shifting towards a Knowledge Ecology. Clay Shirky’s recently released book, called Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, is making a big splash, and for all of the right reasons. In this video from the Berkman Center, Clay talks about how “ridiculously easy group forming” is opening [...]

Despite the recent news about layoffs in Austin, Americans are still thinking about owning their own businesses… Why?  “The most popular was individuals’ desire to be passionate about what they’re doing.” Yahoo Small Business commissioned a national poll showing that “nearly two-thirds of the adults surveyed have thought about owning their own business in the [...]

Tuesday’s blog post has created a number of questions around Austin saying essentially “O.K., but how are loosely organized workers going to replace and compete with companies like Dell? Can hundreds of I-build/support-PCs-in-my-bedroom companies make it in Austin? What other things are these people going to do?” This is a good question, and there is [...]

Today’s news in Austin bemoans the restructuring of the American economy… The following clipping from today’s Austin American Statesman tries to put a happy face on a cold hard fact: 900 people just lost their jobs at Dell. Furthermore, I have heard an early rumor that more jobs are being cut today across a number [...]

We will be holding an Entrepreneur Town Hall Meeting in Austin on March 3rd at 6 pm as part of RiseAustin‘s entrepreneurship week. More details can be found about the event at this link. To take advantage of the conceptual shifts that I have written about my forthcoming book, a number of Austin entrepreneur support [...]

At the Bootstrap Austin blog I have just posted an article about how businesses in Austin are organizing, helping each other build their businesses together- despite whether or not the government steps in to help out startup and small business in the present looming financial downturn.  The secret, which you have heard here before at [...]

As you have heard here before- there is an attitudinal shift that is occurring towards work, largely driven by the Millennial Generation. Here is what Seth said recently on this blog about this new class of jobs and workers: A new class of jobs (and workers) is creating a different sort of worker, though. This [...]

Over the holiday weekend, I had the honor of meeting a man that has catalyzed an economic miracle for a part of Chihuahua, Mexico. Spencer MacCallum discovered the work of Juan Quezada, and over 30 years took the little town of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico creating “the fairy tale of Mata Ortiz”. Spencer spoke of [...]

In the following article in the NY Times, the rapid development of knowledge ecologies can be seen happening between industry and academia.  Large corporate labs are on the way out.  University research is being brought closer to industry through new relationships- that are looking much more like the ecologies that we have been talking about. [...]

Several friends have asked me “What do I mean by a shift between a Knowledge Economy to a Knowledge Ecology?”  In the Knowledge Economy the Internet was being used to just make labor more efficient.  In an Knowledge Ecology the best ideas come from many different places… and when they are implemented, they can dominate [...]

I about fell out of my seat laughing when I saw the following billboard, as I was surfing across the net, checking out John Erik Metcalf’s blog.  As Roy Williams, the Wizard of Ads predicted back in 2003, older generations just don’t get this younger generation, the Millennials, just yet.  Roy states: AOL and Yahoo.com [...]

A friend of mine that I use to work with at NeXT, Inc. just forwarded the following Youtube video. Working with Steve Jobs at the start of my career has forever positively warped my sense of what is possible in the world. Steve says “Follow your heart, even when it leads you off of the [...]